“I’m afraid you don’t understand,” Carcer said, frustrated. He came to stand a little too close to Lucius who stood straight and looked at the man.
“The praefectus has only just arrived, Virgilio,” Crescens said, his hand squeezing Carcer’s shoulder hard in the darkness.
“I’m sure there is much I don’t understand about the politics of this area, about who should be taxed and who should not,” Lucius said. “What I do understand is that Lindinis, no matter how wonderful a place, is a grain of sand on the larger surface of the empire. You have done well here, but there is a way in which things are done. The emperor is pleased with the way the empire is run now, and he fought many years to make it so.”
“That is just it,” Crescens said, his voice a little more excited. “Now that the emperor h
